Centre for Civil Society Annual Report 2012-2013
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Annual Report 2012 – 2013 Fall 08 CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013 1 Centre for Civil Society Annual Report 2012 – 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 3 SCHOOL CHOICE CAMPAIGN .......................................................................................................... 3 A. Research ...................................................................................................................................... 3 B. Proof of Concept ......................................................................................................................... 4 C. Policy Engagement & Advocacy ................................................................................................ 5 D. Institutional Support for Budget Private Schools: NISA ............................................................ 6 E. Communications & Public Opinion ............................................................................................ 7 JEEVIKA: LAW, LIBERTY AND LIVELIHOOD CAMPAIGN ......................................................... 8 A. Mass Awareness & Mobilisation ................................................................................................ 8 B. Policy Engagement & Advocacy ................................................................................................ 9 C. Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival ........................................................................ 9 D. Research ...................................................................................................................................... 9 SKILL VOUCHERS PROJECT ........................................................................................................... 10 CCS ACADEMY .................................................................................................................................. 10 A. Researching Reality Internships 2012 ....................................................................................... 10 B. ìpolicy: Certificate Course in Public Policy .............................................................................. 11 C. Liberty and Society Seminar ..................................................................................................... 11 D. Colloquium ............................................................................................................................... 11 E. Freedom Caravan ...................................................................................................................... 11 F. Publications ............................................................................................................................... 12 G. Other Initiatives ........................................................................................................................ 12 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS .......................................................................................... 13 2 Centre for Civil Society Annual Report 2012 – 2013 INTRODUCTION Last year, CCS completed 15 years of work dedicated to advancing personal, social, economic and political freedoms through promotion of choice, competition and community based policy reforms. Our efforts to this end were rewarded when the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program ranked us 51st globally and among the top 15 think tanks in Asia. The numbers speak volumes. We received over 100 media citations and our social media outreach increased significantly as we doubled our following on Facebook and Twitter over the last 12 months, connecting with a more diverse demographic. The creation of the National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA), brought together over 6000 school owners and associations from over 12 states to advocate for the rights of budget performing Picture 1: CCS celebrates 15 years of work, 21 October 2012 schools. Our Jeevika campaign worked with vendor unions, conducting 125 workshops, meetings and rallies to build awareness about the Street Vendor Bill, motivating them to demand their rights from their respective state governments. We set up the Asia Centre for Enterprise (ACE) in partnership with the Atlas Foundation to support intellectual entrepreneurs in the creation and successful running of liberal organisations across Asia. ACE hosted the Asia Liberty Forum this February, bringing together 200 change makers and libertarians and giving them a platform to network with, learn from and collaborate with one another. This report highlights some of our achievements over the last 12 months. Picture 2: Participants at the Asia Liberty Forum SCHOOL CHOICE CAMPAIGN The School Choice Campaign (SCC) launched in 2007 is our flagship policy initiative to bring reform to the education sector and provide innovative solutions like school vouchers based on the principles of choice and competition. In the last year, the campaign has been active across various streams. A. Research Scholarship Scheme for Minorities We conducted a study of scholarships for minorities and their disbursement and have come up with recommendations that will help move to a per-child funding model. The team has completed their primary research and will publish the findings in the form of a policy review this year. 3 Centre for Civil Society Annual Report 2012 – 2013 K-12 Data Portal CCS worked with the Central Square Foundation to create a digital platform for streamlined education data in the country. Currently we have collated expenditure data, some student learning outcomes and infrastructure data. Through the platform, CCS aims to bridge the information gap in the education sector and encourage evidence-based policy debate and formulation. It will allow for the assessment of existing trends in education and provide a clear picture of all inputs and outputs to education at the national and state level thereby increasing the accountability of the system, leading to an overall improvement in quality of education. At a meeting called by the Secretary of Elementary Education, MHRD, they agreed to help collate the data for this portal and also expressed interest in working with us to create a teacher data portal along the same lines. Cost of Compliance Our research team completed a study to estimate the cost of complying with the RTE norms for budget private schools in urban, peri-urban and rural areas of Delhi, focusing on the infrastructure norms and norms regarding teachers' salary and minimum qualifications. The study found that based on the estimated costs of infrastructure and recurring outflow, there would be a four-fold increase in the monthly fees for students, which could prove to be prohibitive for the current students who can barely afford these schools. Moreover, it could lead to the closure of many of these schools, rendering a large number of students out of school. The paper will be published in the form of a policy review in the coming months. Legislative Analyses An RTE amendment bill was drafted for introduction in Parliament as a private member bill in coming sessions. Our recommendations focus on quality education and learning outcomes. RTIs were also filed to all states asking for the per-child funding formula reimbursing private schools under the 25% quota and we are in the process of analysing the data that was received. B. Proof of Concept School Vouchers for Girls Rigorous data collection through household and learning assessment surveys for both the control group and the test group of voucher beneficiaries under our SVG pilot was completed. Of our 400 voucher recipients, we identified 75 students who have not yet completed schooling till class V and are continuing to support them, while also raising funds for the elementary school graduates. 4 Centre for Civil Society Annual Report 2012 – 2013 C. Policy Engagement & Advocacy Central Level Advocacy Following the cabinet reshuffle at the central level, our advocacy team met with the new HRD team including Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Rajarshi Bhattacharya, Secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy, Amarjit Singh and Vrinda Sarup, Additional Secretaries of Elementary Education, Vikram Sahay, Director of Elementary Education, Abha Joshi, Directorate of Education, Delhi and Vinit Joshi, Chairman of the CBSE. State Level Advocacy Our advocacy team organised an extensive campaign working with MCDs in Delhi to raise awareness among parents of students from EWS about the 25% reservation in private schools. The campaign was extremely successful, resulting in increased awareness among beneficiaries about the provisions made for them, improved dialogue among councillors and the public regarding these provisions and sensitisation of Picture 4: A parent reads our pamphlet on the RTE 25% schools regarding the 25% quota. CCS and the MCD also reservation set up a helpline to address any queries and concerns parents might have. The helpline proved to be an extremely valuable resource for parents and we received over 1000 phone calls from them related to various aspects of the admission process. The launch of this helpline also received widespread media coverage. CCS has been instituted as a member of FICCI’s Committee on Elementary Education. Our extensive research in the field of education allows us to serve as valuable knowledge partners for the committee. In addition